Massachusetts Senator Joan B. Lovely, Democrat of Salem, said she plans to introduce a comprehensive bill next month that will include a long list of changes, including making it illegal for high school teachers to have sex with their students, strengthening requirements to report abuse, and eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for cases involving sexual violations of children...
...In Connecticut, two state lawmakers said they want to extend what some call the “passing the trash” law to cover private schools. The law, approved in June, bars public schools from signing confidentiality agreements that cover up allegations of sexual misconduct. It also requires schools to share information when teachers accused of misconduct apply for new jobs. But the provisions do not apply to private schools.
“I think private schools should live up to the same standard as public schools,” said Senator Cathy Osten, Democrat of Sprague. Representative William Tong, Democrat of Stamford, said he also supports changing the law to cover private schools....
http://www.bostonglobe.com/2016/12/22/lawmakers-advocates-push-changes-laws-covering-sex-abuse-educators/nFN2REzelhmf1VUAvluebK/story.html?event=event25
There is a great divide between want and will.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "want" in Maryland. We have legislators like Jamie Raskin who have worked to make it easier for adults to sexually abuse students.
DeleteAnd he was rewarded for his work by being elected a US congressman.
DeleteMany other states across the country are actively working towards strengthening laws to protect children. Many states are INCREASING criminal penalties for Mandated Reporters who ignore federal and state laws which obligate them to report all suspicions of abuse to authorities. Here in Maryland? WE ARE THE ONLY STATE IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY with no criminal penalty for failure to report. So what do our kids get? Here’s what they get in Montgomery County….schools were they are being sexually abused by employees, schools where administration knows this is taking place and instead of following the law and reporting to authorities, they create a secret data base to track people they are suspicious of while they move them from school to school and while they write memos to them saying things like, “you will not do lunch bunch, you will not go into the children’s bathroom, you will stop having muscle club, you will stop having kids alone in your room sitting on your lap”. Yep, a list of over 220 people they were “tracking” but admitted to the media they did not report to police or CPS….so what happened? The first victims continued to suffer while those same people went on to abuse more kids. This happened multiple times. And then, when MCPS admits to the media they ran an illegal database what happens to the person who documented the systems crime? He is the one MCPS is currently sending out to run community meetings in schools where current arrests of staff have happened. In other states many, many people would have been criminally charged for failing to protect our children. Here in Maryland? Crickets chirping. Parents: WAKE UP. Nothing will change unless you speak out and demand reforms.
ReplyDelete"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
- Benjamin Franklin